Abstract
Soil erosion is one of the challenges of Nigerian agriculture. The present study therefore aimed at surveying prevailing types of soil erosion in Central Senatorial District (Tsafe, Gusau, Bungudu and Maru Local Governments) of Zamfara State-Nigeria, their causes, effects and some measures adopted by farmers in soil and water conservation. Three district each from Gusau and Maru local governments were randomly selected and stratified random sampling technique was employed in selecting seven villages from the districts of Gusau and nine from that of Maru. Structured questionnaires were administered to 200 farmers and the data was analyzed using descriptive statistics. Result showed majority of the farmers sampled were having ages of ≥ 60 years with Qur’anic education and farm size of 1 to 5 ha mostly acquired by inheritance. Mixed cropping is widely practiced with rill erosion as the prevalent type having moderate severity on their farms detected through decline in productivity, occurrence of rills and gullies. Continuous and clean cultivation, topography, soil and rainfall characteristics were among the causes of erosion in the study area with damages to include loss of productive soil, silting, drifting and land fragmentation. The conservation practices including manure application, cover cropping, drainages, contour farming and minimum or zero tillage are being adopted by the farmers for sustainable crop production.
Key words: Soil erosion, Zamfara central senatorial district, sustainable crop production, soil and water conservation.
